A male, plug, or header electrical connector typically includes an arrangement of electrical contacts or mating pins. The electrical contacts may extend beyond a housing of the connector or a frame of a lead frame assembly and thus are partially exposed. Sometimes, during handling or shipment of the electrical connector, exposed end portions of the electrical contacts bend. Consequently, during mating, the bent contacts do not match up with the, for example, corresponding receptacle connector contacts. The electrical connector, therefore, may not properly connect with receptacle connector contacts. That is, not all electrical contacts of the electrical connector will engage properly into the complementary contacts of the receptacle connector. Additionally, when a connector with bent electrical contacts is attempted to be mated, the pins may be bent further as they abut the receptacle connector and pressure is applied. Moreover, in many cases, a damaged electrical connector can ruin an entire motherboard or daughtercard. Thus, there is a need in the art for a mechanism that tends to prevent bending and misalignment of the electrical contacts during handling and shipment of the electrical connector.